In recent years, the Dortmund Borussia has risen to incredible heights. Twice she was able to leave behind the legendary Bayern Munich in the race for the championship, and once she even reached the finals of the most prestigious football competition in the world - the Champions League (where she was defeated by the same Bayern). This club has its own high-class players, strong and promising pupils. And there are also legends - such as Sebastian Kael. He spent most of his career in this club, became his captain and was a pillar of the center of the field, one of the strongest defensive midfielders of his time. And even when he was old, Sebastian Kael remained a reliable player, who at the right time could replace a traumatized, tired or disqualified player of a world level. How did the sports career of this German footballer develop?
Biography
Sebastian Kael was born on February 13, 1980 in the small German town of Fulda. Not so much is known about his childhood as we would like - at the age of five he ended up at the football academy of the Larbakh club, at the age of 14 he moved to the Borussia academy from Fulda. If we consider his non-football life, then it is worth noting that already at the age of 23 he became a member of the School without Racism project, and then an advertising ambassador of the project to combat child prostitution. He is also currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the German Youth Football Foundation. Unfortunately, little is known about Sebastian Kael’s personal life either - only that he lives in a civil marriage with a girl named Tina, from whom he had a child in 2006.
Carier start
Like many young guys, Sebastian Kael did not immediately find himself in the academy of a strong club - he changed several places, each time moving to more and more promising institutions for him. Only in 1996, at the age of 16, he ended up at the academy of the club, which was at that time in the second Bundesliga, “Hanover” - it was with this club that he signed his first professional contract two years later. Naturally, he did not immediately get a place in the first team - in his first season he played only nine matches and scored one goal. But there’s no point in looking at goal statistics, since Sebastian Kael is a defensive player. He is a defensive midfielder, “breakwater”, “destroyer”, that is, the midfield player who is responsible for the destruction of enemy attacks. And next season he was able to show his capabilities more fully - he played 26 matches and again scored one goal. However, the player was clearly promising, so he decided to move to the first Bundesliga - the most prestigious tournament in Germany. Freiburg signed a contract with him, who paid a hundred thousand euros for the transfer of a 20-year-old guy.
Disclosure at Freiburg
It was Freiburg that became the place where Sebastian Kael was able to fully open up. The football player from the first match began to play in the first team, and as a result, he spent 27 games for the new club in the first season, scoring four goals. Naturally, this did not go unnoticed by the larger clubs. If we consider the rating of football players of that time, then young Sebastian was one of the most promising in all of Germany, so he could not refuse the offer that came to him in the winter transfer window of the season 01/02. The midfielder played the first half of the season at the base of Freiburg, entering the field as much as twenty-two times and again scoring four goals. But the second 21-year-old player has already started in the shirt of Dortmund Borussia, which paid 3.2 million euros for his transfer.
Career at Borussia
Not every player can boast of the dedication to his club that Sebastian Kael showed in Borussia. From the age of 21, he played for this club - and did not leave it until the very end of his career. If you take the rating of players devoted to their club, then Kael will definitely be in it. Only football players who began their careers in those clubs where they completed it will get ahead of him - Sebastian spent three and a half years in other clubs.
But he definitely had a wonderful career with Borussia FC - from the first match he was a main player and remained with him almost until the very end of his career, which he completed at age 35, when most of the players are already sitting on the bench. Kael was always at the start - and his statistics are violated only by the seasons 06/07, 09/10 and 10/11, when he received serious injuries and dropped out for most of the playing time. In total for thirteen and a half years in Borussia he played in 353 matches and scored 24 goals. But again, it is worth paying attention to the fact that goals for a defensive midfielder are not the main thing, he coped with his work as an destroyer of enemy attacks perfectly from the first to the last match.
And only in the summer of 2015 it was announced that Sebastian Kael is completing his football career - at the moment he took a break from football and has not yet decided whether he is going to continue his football activities in any way in the future as a coach, agent, scout, and so on. Further.
Team appearances
Kehl was a fairly strong player, but Germany always had world-class performers in the center of the field, so in the national team he did not always withstand the competition.
Sebastian made his debut for the national team in 2001 in a friendly match against the Slovak national team. His first official match was the qualifying game for the 2002 World Cup against England, where Kael replaced 12 minutes. As a result, he went to the 2002 World Cup, where he spent the entire group stage on the bench, but was replaced during the break instead of Marco Remer in the match of the eighth finals against Paraguay. And in the quarter-finals against the US team, he generally came out in the starting lineup. But coach Feller did not like this experiment, so Kael spent the remaining matches of the tournament on the bench.
Kael spent the failed 2004 European Championship in reserve, and at his last official tournament, the 2006 World Cup, he was replaced in the first match of the group stage and in the 1/8 finals, and in the semifinals he was forced to go on the base instead of the injured Torsten Frings. He played all 90 minutes of regular time and all 30 minutes of extra time, but the Germans could not defeat the Italians. In the match for third place against the Portuguese national team, Quel also came out at the base, and the Germans were already able to win this match.
Trophies
During his long career, Sebastian Kael assembled a good collection of trophies - he became the German champion three times with the Dortmund Borussia, with it he won one German Cup and two German Super Cups, and also became the Champions League finalist. As for the international level, here under Kehl Germany was not able to take a single trophy. Therefore, he was content with only the silver medals of the 2002 and 2006 World Championships, as well as the bronze medal of the 2005 Confederations Cup.
Player Rating
The rating of football players is a subjective concept, but one thing is certain: Kael will always be one of the best and favorite players for his club. Judging solely from a gaming point of view, he reached the peak of his career in 2006 - and perhaps could have grown further if not for a serious injury that put him out of action for almost a year.